As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements can vary between different applications, information handling systems can also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information can be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems can include a variety of hardware and software components that can be configured to process, store, and communicate information and can include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Initialization of conventional information handling systems can begin with accessing a system's basic input output system (BIOS) using the microprocessor of the information handling system. When the BIOS boots up the system, the BIOS typically first determines the functionality of critical hardware components and then loads all or a portion of the operating system from a system hard disk drive, diskette drive, or optical drive. The BIOS enables an operating system and various other applications to not have to understand exact details (such as hardware addresses) about various electronic components within an information handling system. For example, an operating system can not have to keep track of addressing for devices such as hard disk drives, video adapters, keyboards, pointing devices, printers, and other devices. As such, altering or changing an input/output device typically does not require an application or operating system to be modified in order to operate as an information handling system's BIOS typically handles this function.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.